WILTON — A love of the game, camaraderie, the foolishness among players along with the cookies and tea bring a small group of duplicate bridge players together in Wilton every week.

Many learned to play duplicate bridge in college but then stopped playing for a number of years only to come back. Now they gather with others at 1 p.m. every Wednesday at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, member Tony McLaughlin of Wilton said.

Competitive, fast moving, challenging were words used by members to describe the form of bridge where foursomes each play the same hand of cards then get to compare and learn from what fellow players did, Paul Brown of Farmington said.

“When we finish and compare hands, I ask myself why did I make that move,” Brown said. “It’s competitive but it’s a real comfortable group.”

Brown joined the Wednesday sessions when asked to partner with Elizabeth Cushman. He found it wasn’t just an afternoon session for women but several men also play, and it soon became a new group of friends, he said.

Cushman of Farmington also learned to play bridge in college. In recent years, she’s taught basic bridge for 10 years through Adult Education and then another two years through Gold Leaf, a local senior education program.

The group formed when a couple moved here from out of state and placed a tiny ad in the local paper seeking people who would like to play duplicate bridge, she said. She and one other person answered their ad and a group formed to play at SeniorsPlus in Wilton. Players invited other players to join and now a dozen, sometimes 16, players will gather. They would like to include more players and add a few more tables, she said.

When the SeniorsPlus building closed, McLaughlin invited the group to meet at St. Luke’s. Although the church doesn’t charge them, the members contribute a $1 donation each week to give to the church, Cushman said.

Loraine Norton of Farmington said she was “scared to death to come play.” The reason? She had an upsetting bridge episode when she was in her 20s that left her vowing never to play again. However, she decided to give the group a try.

“Now I look forward to it. It’s the nicest group of players and it’s enhanced my life,” she said.

Most of the players have similar stories. After college they stopped playing for years, McLaughlin said. They were busy with life and the lure of the game waned, but he expects there may be others in the area who are in the same boat. They may think it’s been a long time since they’ve played and they can’t do it now, but most of the Wednesday players would tell them they could, he said.

Single players are also welcome. You don’t need a partner, he said.

For more information about the duplicate bridge group, call McLaughlin at 645-2312.

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A duplicate bridge group meets every Wednesday at 1 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Wilton. All bridge players are welcome, said Elizabeth Cushman, left, preparing to play a game with Paul Brown and Tony McLaughlin.

A duplicate bridge group meets every Wednesday at 1 p.m. at St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church in Wilton. Preparing to play are Loraine Norton, Ellsworth Crocker and Bob Richards, all of Farmington. The fourth player was Percy Doucette, also of Farmington.
All bridge players are welcome.

A duplicate bridge group meets every Wednesday at 1 p.m. at St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church in Wilton. A foursome preparing to play includes David Scribner of East Wilton, Connie Simpkins of Weld, Roger Plaisted of Vienna and Beth Lundy of Weld.
All bridge players are welcome.